Does Full Moon interferes with children's sleep?

A study was recently conducted on children belonging to 12 countries, including India, and it was found that when the full moon occurs, it may reduce the sleep of kids, but only by a few minutes. However, a link between the occurrence of the full moon and kids’ activity levels, was not found in the study. Thus, it also debunks a myth that children are more hyper during a full moon.

Information from more than 5,800 children, ages 9 to 11, from 12 countries was analysed by the Researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Canada. The 12 countries include India, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, Kenya, Portugal, South Africa, the UK and the US.

The children were made to wear accelerometers, devices that are similar to fitness trackers, for seven days. The accelerometers records body movement and can also be used to monitor sleep 24 hours a day. Results showed that children’s activity levels - including the amount of time they spent doing high- and low-intensity activity, and their sedentary time - were about the same during a full moon and new moon.

However, children’s sleep time was about 5 minutes shorter on nights with a full moon, compared to nights with a new moon, ‘Live Science’ reported. This is about one per cent of children’s total sleep time, researchers said. According to researchers, one possible reason could be that the brightness of the full moon interferes with children’s sleep, they said. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics. 

(With PTI inputs)